Ozymandias: Hooch

I guess the worst thing about being in PNG is having to go to work for five days a week. I had obviously got used to my retirement activities, and returning to a 9-5 (actually 8-4) routine is not welcome especially in such a beautiful place!

It does make weekends more important though and last weekend I went with a chap I had met in one of the seaside villages and his boys (the boys and girls are kept very apart, the boys in their own detached house – as in Margaret Mead’s book) by boat to explore three islands just off the coast. The first, small and deserted though owned by my guide’s brother who comes for the coconuts and fruit from time to time. Almost impenetrable jungle and with golden, sandy beaches unlike those on the mainland where the sand comes from the volcanic rocks up in the hills. The other two islands were inhabited though not intensively and some garden plots had been hacked out of the jungle for bananas, maize and yams then with linking paths through the trees to the neighbours – most of whom had gone to their church on the mainland, it being Sunday. Some teenage boys had been left behind and were singing loudly (but it didn’t sound like hymns) so I introduced myself and was invited to sample their yarra – an illict home made brew which proved to be really quite attractive like a very strong cider, not surprising maybe since it is made from any available fruits from the jungle. The outboard motor breaks down between islands but a rescue is organised by mobile phone so I don’t get to test my vso lifejacket this time.

Back on the mainland its been a week of law and order stories. The top man in the Province, the Governor said it would be a good idea if the otherwise unemployed youths who do our street cleaning also caned any young people they come across who should be in school. The crown prosecutor sent him a public letter pointing out that hitting people in the street or inciting such action was actually illegal (probably a good thing that the volunteer advisor in the prosecutor’s office is heading back to the States shortly). On the coast road north of the town a group of Australian volunteers were held up, robbed of everything and the girls gang-raped. Within days a minibus on the same road was held up, the driver tried to get through but was shot and died, his passengers then robbed of all their possessions. Finally at sea just along the coast a small boat was held up by 4 gunmen stealing all the goods, boat and its outboard motor, forcing the owner and passengers to swim ashore – one person drowned. A local MP is appalled and believes that the tourist industry could be affected. Anyway it seems that deaths and even physical harm are truly very rare, and if you are a bloke then all you will lose are your possessions

– anyway so much for now, something more cheerful next time!